Technology Effect

The first stars in the universe were not as solitary as previously thought. In fact, they could have formed alongside numerous companions when the gas disks that surrounded them broke up during formation, giving birth to sibling stars in the fragments.These are the findings of studies performed with the aid of computer simulations by researchers at Heidelberg University's Centre for Astronomy together with colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching and the University of Texas at Austin (USA). The group's findings, just published the journal Science, cast an entirely new light on the formation of the first stars after the Big Bang. Stars evolve from cosmic gas clouds in a fierce and complex battle between gravity and internal gas pressure. The density of the gas increases due to its own gravitational pull. This causes the gas to heat up, as a consequence the pressure rises, and the compression process comes to a halt. If the gas manages to ...

  NASA’s two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, which are going to capture the Sun, are on diametrically opposite sides of the Sun, 180 degrees apart. For the first time, NASA is all set to release of the first complete view of the Sun’s entire surface and atmosphere on at 11 a.m. EST on Sunday, Feb 6. The views will enable significant advances in space weather forecasting for Earth, and improve planning for future robotic or crewed spacecraft missions throughout the solar system. NASA’s two Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, which are going to capture the Sun, are on diametrically opposite sides of the Sun, 180 degrees apart. Designed by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, in 2009, STEREO revealed the 3-D structure of coronal mass ejections, which are violent eruptions of matter from the Sun that can disrupt communications, navigation, satellites and power grids on Earth. The STE...

Just how big is the universe is a question that has baffled cosmologists for decades. But now scientists have reasons to believe that it is at least 250 times bigger than the visible universe. Researchers at Oxford University and Imperial College, London, focused on measuring the curvature of the universe. Should it be flat or open, then the universe must be infinite, but if it is closed like a sphere, then it has to be of a limited size. Researcher Mihran Vardanyan and his team have come up with a new complex method of analysing all previous research they call the Bayesian method, the Daily Mail reports. A main source of data they used was measuring the size of waves in the early universe that became frozen in the cosmic microwave background — or baryonic acoustic oscillations — using telescopes in space. They found that the most likely model is a tightly constrained curvature of the universe — which means it’s flat. It’s also at least 250 times bigger than the ‘Hubble v...

Nasa Kepler mission has discovered a remarkable planetary system which has six planets around a Sun-like star, including five small planets in tightly packed orbits. Astronomers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and their coauthors analyzed the orbital dynamics of the system, determined the sizes and masses of the planets, and figured out their likely compositions — all based on Kepler's measurements of the changing brightness of the host star (called Kepler-11) as the planets passed in front of it. “Not only is this an amazing planetary system, it also validates a powerful new method to measure the masses of planets,” said Daniel Fabrycky, a Hubble postdoctoral fellow at UC Santa Cruz, who led the orbital dynamics analysis. Fabrycky and Jack Lissauer, a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, are the lead authors of a paper on Kepler-11 published today (February 3) in Nature. The five inner planets in the Kepler-11 system range in size fr...

Bulky present generation satellite dishes and ground terminals could become relics of the past thanks to research currently being conducted for the European Space Agency (ESA) by Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) aimed at developing discrete self-aligning flat antennas.It is hoped the work could lead to a one-size-fits all solution that could be optimised for a variety of technologies presently used to deliver satellite broadband and television to travellers as well as customers in broadband 'not spots'. ECIT is currently working on an 18 month ESA project with the aim of developing a completely self-contained solid-state self-steering antenna that is much lighter and less power hungry than current alternatives. The team being led by Professor Vincent Fusco plan to complete work on a 1.6GHz demonstrator -- capable of providing transfer rates of 0.5Mbits/s -- with a power requirement ...

 Physicists have carried out the first full run of experiments that smash protons together at almost the speed of light, bringing them a step closer towards the discovery of dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible substance that we cannot detect directly but whose presence is inferred from the rotation of galaxies. Researchers said the experiment would help them either confirm or rule out one of the primary theories that could solve many of the outstanding questions of particle physics, known as Supersymmetry (SUSY). “We have made an important step forward in the hunt for dark matter, although no discovery has yet been made,” said Professor Geoff Hall from the Department of Physics at Imperial College London, who works on the CMS experiment. "These results have come faster than we expected because the LHC and CMS ran better last year than we dared hope and we are now very optimistic about the prospects of pinning down Supersymmetry in the next few years.” T...

  A new study from New York City College of Technology sheds light on how a deflection strategy would work best in order to avoid collision with giant space objects such as asteroids. “A collision with an object of this size travelling at an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 mile per hour would be catastrophic,” said NASA researcher and New York City College of Technology (City Tech) Associate Professor of Physics Gregory L. Matloff. His advice is to “either destroy the object or alter its trajectory.” In 2029 and 2036, the asteroid Apophis (named after the Egyptian god of darkness and the void), at least 1,100 feet in diameter, 90 stories tall, and weighing an estimated 25 million tons, will make two close passes by Earth at a distance of about 22,600 miles. According to the researcher, diverting objects such as these is a better option than exploding them as the debris itself could bathe Earth in a radioactive shower. His study indicates that an asteroid could be divert...

  lighter and more energy-efficient broadband devices on communications satellites may be possible using metamaterials to modify horn antennas, according to engineers from Penn State and Lockheed Martin Corp."Existing horn antennas have adequate performance, but have undergone little change over several decades except for advances in more accurate modeling techniques," said Erik Lier, technical Fellow, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. "Modifications enabled by metamaterials can either enhance performance, or they can lower the mass and thus lower the cost of putting the antenna in space." Lighter antennas cost less to boost into space and more energy-efficient antennas can reduce the size of storage batteries and solar cells, which also reduces the mass. Metamaterials derive their unusual properties from structure rather than composition and possess exotic properties not usually found in nature. "Working with Penn State, we decided that the f...

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) plans another test-firing of the K-15 missile from a pontoon off the coast of Visakhapatnam. Developed under the Sagarika project, the K-15 has been test-fired several times from submerged pontoons off Visakhapatnam. The pontoon, simulating the conditions of a submarine, will be positioned about 10 to 20 metres below the sea surface. A gas-charged booster will erupt into life, driving the two-stage missile to the surface. The missile's first stage will then ignite and it will climb 20 km in the air before cutting a parabolic path and travelling over a range of 700 km. The missile, which is under production, can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. It will form part of the lethal arsenal of the country's first nuclear-powered submarine, Arihant, which is undergoing sea trials. India is building two more such submarines. The DRDO is developing a K-4 underwater-launched missile, which will have ...

Chennai: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is getting ready to launch Resourcesat 2, a remote sensing earth observation satellite, by the end of February, officials said Monday. Remote sensing satellites send back pictures and other data for various uses. India is a major player in providing such data in the global market.The Resourcesat-2 will replace Resourcesat-1 launched in 2003, which has outlived its original mission life of five years. According to ISRO officials, the satellite has reached the Sriharikota rocket launch centre around 80 km from Chennai and tests are being conducted. The satellites will be carried by the ISRO's polar satellite launch vehicle (PSLV). The launch will be between Feb 20-25 in the morning. The PSLV will also be carrying two other small satellites made in Singapore and Russia. With nine orbiting satellites and the tenth one to join in February, India has the largest number of remote sensing satellites in the world...

 The impact of cosmic rays on global warming needs to be assessed. Are charged particles coming from beyond the solar system, known as galactic cosmic rays, affecting the pace of climate change? Possibly, but the extent to which it is happening is not clear, according to V. Ramanathan, a leading atmospheric scientist with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at San Diego, United States. The idea of galactic cosmic rays being an important factor driving climate change goes back over a decade. But the evidence remains ambiguous, observed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report published in 2007. The role these cosmic rays could play has now been highlighted by a paper from the former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation, U.R. Rao. The work was recently published as a Discussion Paper by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. As the cosmic rays pass through the earth's atmosphere, they turn atoms and molecu...

 A Japanese rocket carrying supplies for the International Space Station successfully lifted off from a remote island on Saturday on a mission designed to help fill a hole left by the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle programme. The unmanned rocket was carrying nearly six tons of food, water, clothing and experimental equipment to the astronauts in orbit in the space station, an international project involving 15 nations. The rocket was also carrying cargo for NASA. After docking with the space station, dropping off its cargo and being loaded up with waste material, the rocket’s transfer vehicle, named “Kounotori2,” will be detached and burn itself up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. Kounotori means white stork in Japanese. Applause broke out at the control centre on Tanegashima Island as officials announced that the launch phase was a success. Tracking was switched to a centre in Guam as the vehicle moved rapidly away from Japan. Kounotori2 i...

NASA doesn’t know yet where it will get the money, but the space agency officially added another space shuttle launch to its schedule - the final one for the fleet. The space agency set a target launch date of June 28 for shuttle Atlantis and started preparations for the 135th and last shuttle flight. The four-member crew will take up supplies to the International Space Station and return a faulty pump that has bedevilled engineers. Now three missions remain before NASA retires its shuttle fleet this year. Shuttle Discovery’s last mission is slated for Feb. 24, Endeavour’s in April. Thursday’s move allows different parts of the shuttle program to start work on Atlantis’ 12-day flight, including astronaut training and mission planning, NASA spokesman Michael Curie said. Originally, Atlantis was planned as an emergency-only rescue mission if needed for the Endeavour crew. Last year, the Obama administration and Congress clashed over the future of the human space p...

  The Moon, Earth's closest neighbor, has long been studied to help us better understand our own planet. Of particular interest is the lunar interior, which could hold clues to its ancient origins. In an attempt to extract information on the very deep interior of the Moon, a team of NASA-led researchers applied new technology to old data. Apollo seismic data was reanalyzed using modern methodologies and detected what many scientists have predicted: the Moon has a core.According to the team's findings, published Jan. 6 in the online edition of Science, the Moon possesses an iron-rich core with a solid inner ball nearly 150 miles in radius, and a 55-mile thick outer fluid shell. "The Moon's deepest interior, especially whether or not it has a core, has been a blind spot for seismologists," says Ed Garnero, a professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "The seismic data from th...

London: In what may become the face of modern aviation, Nasa has unveiled three concept designs for quiet, energy efficient aircraft which the agency says could be ready for flight as soon as 2025. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing came up with the designs and all the three companies won a contract from the US space agency to research, develop and test their concepts in 2011, the Daily Mail reportedThe designs came about after Nasa revealed it was aiming to develop a line of "super planes" that are faster, larger, quieter – and burn fuel more efficiently and cleanly than their present counterparts. Criteria set by NASA meant that each design had to fly up to 85 per cent of the speed of sound, cover a range of about 7,000 miles and carry between 50,000 and 100,000 of payload; either cargo or passengers. Now, each of the three companies will spend the rest of this year exploring , testing and simulating their designs in the hope that Nasa will ch...

Owen Bowcott and Paul Lewis report There is a second-and-a-half delay between the RAF operator pressing his button and the Hellfire rocket erupting from the aircraft he is controlling, circling in the sky above Afghanistan. That’s a long time in modern warfare, but the plane is an unmanned “drone” and its two—strong crew are 13,000km at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada. Right now, the Reaper is being commanded from a console with twin video screens shaped to resemble a plane’s cockpit. The UK has five Reapers like this one operating in Afghanistan. With a wingspan of 20 metres, they are 11m long, reach a top speed of 250 knots (463kph) and usually carry four Hellfire rockets and two laser—guided bombs. These Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) — which rely on fibre optic cables, European “upstations” and satellite links — are part of an international trend towards remote combat. RAF—controlled Reapers used their weapons in Afghanistan 123 times in the first 10 months of...

 space telescope has accidentally spotted thunderstorms on Earth producing beams of antimatter. Such storms have long been known to give rise to fleeting sparks of light called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes. But results from the Fermi telescope show they also give out streams of electrons and their antimatter counterparts, positrons. The surprise result was presented by researchers at the American Astronomical Society meeting in the US.

Google TV has successfully been jailbroken using a hardware-software double-team hack. Spurred on by Android developer Howard Harte's $1000 bounty for the first successful jailbreak, a group calling themselves GTVhacker dev team rose to the challenge, and released a 6-minute video of the their work to prove it (included after the break). What's the big deal? Well, in Harte's own words: "What this means is that we now have a complete Android development environment for the Google TV." The jailbreak has exposed the underlying Android system, which essentially means Android on a TV, complete with the ability to run Android apps. Don't get your hopes up too soon for a user-land jailbreak however. The process requires opening up the Logitech Revue, a bit of soldering, and a pretty involved software hack -- not something your average Joe wanting Hulu on his Google TV is likely to manage. But it's a step in the right direction, and with a bit of lu...

The smallest rocky planet ever spotted outside Earth’s solar system has been found by the Kepler observatory, the US space agency said Monday. The planet called Kepler—10b is the first Earth—sized planet confirmed found by Kepler, which was launched in 2009 to find small planets orbiting distant stars. It is about 1.4 times the size of Earth, according to data gathered during eight months of observations, NASA said. The newly discovered planet, however, is too close to its sun to harbour life, scientists said. “The discovery of Kepler—10b is a significant milestone in the search for planets similar to our own,” said Douglas Hudgins, Kepler programme scientist at NASA. “Although this planet is not in the habitable zone, the exciting find showcases the kinds of discoveries made possible by the mission and the promise of many more to come.” The Kepler mission is designed to discover other Earth-like planets in the Milky Way galaxy, but for those planets to be capabl...

discovery of a supermassive black hole in a small nearby galaxy has given astronomers a tantalizing look at how black holes and galaxies may have grown in the early history of the Universe. Finding a black hole a million times more massive than the Sun in a star-forming dwarf galaxy is a strong indication that supermassive black holes formed before the buildup of galaxies, the astronomers saidThe galaxy, called Henize 2-10, 30 million light-years from Earth, has been studied for years, and is forming stars very rapidly. Irregularly shaped and about 3,000 light-years across (compared to 100,000 for our own Milky Way), it resembles what scientists think were some of the first galaxies to form in the early Universe. "This galaxy gives us important clues about a very early phase of galaxy evolution that has not been observed before," said Amy Reines, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia. Supermassive black holes lie at the cores of all "full-sized...